Cardinal RV Club

Having taken delivery of our new Cardinal 5th wheel (3625),we had ordered it with the generator prep. My wife seems convinced we need a generator or at least portable type units (Honda?)... just in case. We will be heading south to Florida next December, probably for a four month stay. We expect to camp along the way, and perhaps an extended visit taking in Texas & Arizona. My thoughts are that without intending to camp in the wilderness, we don't need a generator. With a 15,500 btu A/C, I would need two units tied together. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

Barry

Barry...we have had our rig since Dec. 04 and the only time we had to use a generator was during a hurricane when we lost power for about 10 days right here at home. We have never had to have a generator while traveling. We have had to use a 30 amp cord, as some cg's don't have 50 amp hookups...that has not happened too often but that extra 30 amp cord came in handy when we did need it.

PS...I'll take the Future Cardinal Owner off your screen name now!! You should put your new rig in your signature!! Congrats and we want to hear all about your camping adventures!!!

Over the last ten years we've had 4 RV's, three were motor homes with generators and now we have a Cardinal without one. With the motor homes we used the generators all the time, mainly to cool the rig down when we were driving. With the fiver we really haven't found the need to have one. Like you we are out 4-5 month a year getting away from the cold. The down side, with the motor homes we would stay in Wal-Marts parking lots and use the generator to watch TV, etc. If it is warm out the first thing I need to do at a campground is get the AC running to cool down the rig, but it doesn't take long. The fact is most of the time in our winter traveling it's just not a problem.

I really thought we would need one based on having them in the past, but I've found after two winters and some summer camping that for us it's not necessary.

I would suggest you give it a try for one season and make your decision at that point.

We ordered the generator installed when we ordered the Cardinal. We ordered a 29RK because we liked camping in NFS campgrounds and many of them can't take anything over 32'...on arrival, our bird is nearly 34'. That being said, we have used the generator several times, esp since our storage area offers no power...and a couple of times in MT when the power has gone out in the campground. I'm glad we have it.

I see you're from Michigan we moved from Michigan (thumb area) to Minnesota, where's home? Another new member (Todd66) is from Michigan, he joined just a few days ago. With all the new member from Michigan you should get together and have your own rally.

Also in case no one told you, there is a "quick cool" switch on the ac vent on the ceiling...if you slide that tab...it will cool the living area really quick, then close it so the upstairs can get cool before bedtime. I think some dealers forget to mention that little feature during the pdi


Traveller II, that sounds like an awesome idea!!! Are you volunteering????

If we had more members in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin I would like to see us put something together here.

We've been with other RV manufacture clubs with different RV's we had in our local area and it was fun to have a week-end close by get-away. We do get to Micigan but it's a 15 hour drive for us.

By the way Linda where did you get the cool new happy faces I like them

Well shoot Jim...there's 5 members in MN and 6 in WI....but ya gotta start somewhere!!! lol

We found the smiley faces on the phpbb website, they are the creators of this board. Mike is still cussin me cause it was a nightmare for him to get them installed and the phpbb support people are worse than no help at all! But he was a trooper and kept on till he figured it out. ( I'm scared to go look for more goodies tho.... )

Good thing

We have been full-timing since Nov 06 in our bird without a generator. We have done a multitude of trips criss-crossing the country. We do not Wal-Mart camp or boon-dock, so the only time we wished we had a generator was during a outage at our winter base camp for 2 hours. To me it would not be worth the extra weight and loss of storage space. Other folks use them regularly and it all depends on your camping style and locations.

We had an Onan Microquite installed when we bought our rig. We use it occasionally to power the a/c and microwave when stopping at roadside parks for lunch. It has come in handy when doing repairs and such since I can't park anywhere near my house. Can't honestly say that we have gotten our monies worth out of it but, I guess I could say the same about most of our toys. The only two reasons I can think of that you really need one is if you are camping where elect is not available, or if you just happen to want the darn thing (that makes it a necessity).

Hi, We had experience of a couple of generators in the time we have been RV'ing.

We brought our Cardinal second hand in New Zealand. The people that brought it in from America with the intention of touring NZ with it, had an LPG Onan 5kw generator installed. In the summer we do a fair amount of freedom camping.

We live full time in our RV and found that although the Onan could run our washing machine and dryer ok, it was very hungry on LPG and not really cost effective if used extensively. It was also somewhat louder than the EU10i Honda 1kw that we had from the old rig. The EU has done great service and is quiet enough that neighbours do not realise that it is even on.

If you just want a generator for very occasional use or a lot of use while freedom camping , get one of the Honda EUs.

Which one you get will depend on a realistic assessment of what you really need to run.

For charging the battery, running the TV and other low power items a 1Kw generator is fine. Light, small, easy to carry, fairly cheap and a good emergency standby.

If you want to run the microwave, you need 2Kw.

If you want to run a washing machine, dryer or air conditioner, you will need 3 to 4Kw minimum. Some campers use the EU30i 3Kw (which has the remote electric start) or couple 2 EU20 2kw models together.

If you want power to burn, there is a Honda EU 6Kw model out now.

When we first started camping, there were a lot of things we thought we would need. When we actually starting using the RV, we found that what we thought we needed was quite wrong in some areas.

I would advise you to just buy something inexpensive like the EU10i, knowing that it is ok for an emergency or for a litte bit of freedom camping.

When you have used the Cardinal for a few months, you will have a much better idea about what you really need and can make an informed buying decision. The EU10i will not be wasted as you can either keep it as a backup/emergency or resell it. The Honda's keep their value well.

All the best in your RV adventures

Great post, super information I love the term, "freedom camping", It has a better ring to it than boondogaling.

Ditto what Jim just said...Kiwispirit...how about some pics of New Zealand camping!! (in Cardinal Peep Show tho, they get touchy around here when I hijack a thread, )

Whether or not you need a generator really depends on the type of camping you intend to do. We do two types -- travel and camping. When we travel, we stay in private campgrounds with full hookups -- so no generator needed. When we camp, we stay at New York DEC parks, none of which have electric hookups. Our favorite is about and hour & a half from us and almost every site is on the lake. Without hookups, it is pretty impossible to keep your trailer running smoothly for more than 3-4 days. There are many unexpected items in your trailer that drag the battery down. For example, propane detector, Concertone radio (even when turned off), ignition for your furnace, hot water heater ignition, etc. If you are camping in really cool weather, you could drain your battery overnight just by running your heat! (been there, done that!)

We have 4 golf cart batteries, an inverter, and a Honda 2000 generator. Generator hours are 9-11 and 4-7 daily, and we find that we really only need to run the generator once a day to keep the batteries charged. We plan dinner during the 4-7 hours, and can use the microwave to make dinner prep easier.

Before buying a generator, think about what type of campgrounds you like to stay in. That will help you decide if you really need one or not.